This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of this research is to elucidate the mechanism of polyhydroxyalkanoate inclusion biogenesis. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are bacterial polymers that are synthesized in inclusions when carbon levels are high and another essential nutrient, such as nitrogen is limited. There is considerable commercial interest in PHAs because they comprise a family of polyesters that can be formed into plastics that are biodegradable. Electron microscopy studies have been unable to resolve the structure of PHA inclusions and this has inhibited movement toward a cohesive model of inclusion biogenesis. Employing atomic force microscopy, we have determined that there are three layers of structure, an outer envelope that is the thickness of a membrane bilayer, a middle network layer, and an underlying crystalline lamellar layer. Genetic studies have indicated that the middle network is comprised at least partially of PhaP and that PhaP is likely to be translocated to the periplasm. Thus, it would appear that inclusion biogenesis may occur by movement of protein and/or proteins to the periplasm and budding through the cytoplasmic membrane into the cytoplasm, facilitating the acquisition of the cytoplasmic membrane as an envelope.